Running Again After 50? These 6 Training Changes Help You Build Back Stronger
Rediscovering running after spending years or even decades away can feel really exciting… or intimidating, or both all at once. It might also feel difficult to truly enjoy your sport again and set goals you’re stoked about. But fear not: You can run faster than you did before your time away.
Take Mike Uelses, for example, who returned to running in his mid-50s after a 30-year hiatus. A previous middle-distance runner in the 1980s, his first half marathon experience left him injured and he stopped running altogether. But in the five years since he started running again, he’s finished 12 marathons and PR’d at nine of them, clocking his fastest 26.2-miler in 2:48:16 at the age of 60.
“It’s still entirely possible to feel like you’re starting from scratch but build really good fitness [after 50],” says Amanda Brooks, UESCA-certified run coach and ACE-certified personal trainer, who coaches a majority of runners over the age of 45. “It just may require looking different than it did for you 20 years ago.”
Thankfully, run coaches hold a ton of insight about how to change your approach to running to meet your current season of life. If you’re just getting back into running, or you’re thinking of making a return, take these pieces of advice with you.
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1. Have a Realistic Training Approach
Oftentimes when masters runners return to running after years away, they pick a race and a timeline that’s a little too ambitious. For example, many runners will say they want to run a marathon in six months, but Brooks says you actually want six months to rebuild your base after a long time away before starting a marathon plan.
“There’s a tendency to set some high goals coming in, and a lot of times, depending on your age and how long you’ve been out, that can wear on you psychologically, especially when things don’t progress so quickly,” says Mike McKnight, a Los Angeles–area-based run coach and founder of Running Workx, who specializes in coaching older runners. “If your expectations are a little too high, I think it’s a lot easier to get disillusioned and disappointed, and then you end up quitting after a couple months before you’ve really given yourself a chance to get back in shape.”
McKnight typically prefers that runners start with a half marathon first, and then tackle the full marathon. But if you feel strongly about running 26.2 sooner, he recommends working with a run coach to consider what the safest approach looks like for you.
2. Embrace Baby Steps
Both Brooks and McKnight approach older runners who are making their comebacks with an emphasis on walking, power walking, strength training, and building to run/walk intervals before aiming for continuous running.
Brooks specifically aims to get runners to power walk three miles at a 15:00 pace within the first month or two of making their comeback, which gives athletes a confidence boost before transitioning to the run/walk method. “Starting with walks and run/walks often gives them a chance to enjoy it again because we’re not starting with something that’s so hard. It mentally feels doable,” says Brooks.
The specific timeline and approach varies based on each runner’s needs, but Brooks typically starts with about a month of walking and run/walks, then transitions to two to three weeks of continuous three-mile runs three times a week, every other day, before increasing mileage.
When it’s time to increase, that might look like going from three miles to 3.3 rather than adding a whole mile to your runs at once, Brooks says. “That slow, incremental build is how I’ve found they have a better chance to adapt, better chance to recover, less chance of injury, and less frustration,” she explains.
3. Get Your Bloodwork Done
There are a couple of health factors to consider as you pick up a consistent running routine again, especially if a lot of time has passed. Both Brooks and McKnight explain that older runners often don’t think to consider how things like vitamin D levels, iron, or hormonal changes with perimenopause or menopause might affect their recovery rate and energy levels.
This is a good reason to talk to a primary care doctor about getting evaluated and having some basic bloodwork done. “Maybe your vitamin D is low and then it doesn’t matter how I shift your training around. Without that, [your fatigue] is not going to get better,” says Brooks.
4. Strength Train From the Start
Both experts recommend starting with two days a week of strength training, in addition to walking and then run/walking, with an optional third strength day. They explain that because cardiovascular fitness tends to adapt quicker to running than the musculoskeletal system, strength training regularly can help with adapting both systems together.
“Muscle mass loss is a big issue when we age, too, so we want to mitigate that with strength training,” says McKnight.
These initial workouts can help support overall fitness, build strength, and prevent injury by strengthening key running muscles and addressing any muscle imbalances.
Practically, this might look like starting with basic bodyweight exercises, including squats, planks, and push-ups, McKnight suggests. It’s also smart to add in modified plyometrics, like performing a squat jump onto your toes instead of jumping off the ground, Brooks adds. The key is quickness with those moves, building power, speed, and more responsive muscles, Brooks explains. You’ll also build stability and confidence in more explosive movements, so you can reconnect with the high-intensity nature of running.
A month out from Uelses’ first marathon after his break, he noticed a twinge in the knee he had injured decades prior. Rather than letting it sideline him again, he listened to his friend’s advice to see a physical therapist, who gave him hip- and glute-strengthening exercises to do like single-leg Romanian deadlifts, hip thrusts, side planks with a leg lift, and single-leg chair squats. From then on, Uelses continued strength training regularly throughout his training builds and has stayed injury-free.
5. Don’t Try to Get Faster With Every Run
Within the first few runs in your comeback, you might feel tempted to run faster each time you lace up your shoes, McKnight says, but from his experience, the best thing to do is avoid speedwork until you establish your base and practice patience. If you try to outdo your previous run every time you go out, that’s where injuries can pop up, your recovery falters, and you might hurt your confidence level.
McKnight suggests keeping a running diary to help reflect on your runs and stay honest about your progress, like if you pushed the pace or went out too fast, you can note that and avoid it next time. “As a coach, it’s ironic, but I probably spend more energy trying to hold back my runners,” he says.
6. Adapt Training Plans to Your Needs
As you go through your training, stay flexible and modify workouts. Don’t be afraid to take a standard training plan that has five or six days of running and cut it down to three to four, and consider adding cross-training methods like swimming or cycling, Brooks suggests.
Opting for a mix between running, cross-training, and strength training can help take some of the impact off of your bones and joints, and prevent risk of sneaky stress fractures that build up over time.
Lisa Veneziano, who ran 2:56:38 to win the 55–59 age group in the 2024 Boston Marathon, logs 30 to 35 miles weekly—sometimes 40 during marathon training. On days she’s not running, she cross-trains on the Spin bike, outdoor bike, elliptical, or Zero Runner, particularly using the bike for harder threshold and tempo efforts, and other forms of cross-training for active recovery.
You can also give yourself more time to build up to a race or goal by taking a standard 12- to 16-week marathon plan, for example, and increasing it to 20 weeks by adding more frequent deload weeks, Brooks suggests. Instead of taking a deload week to cut back on mileage and intensity every three to four weeks, your deload week falls after every two weeks.
This way, you have more of a chance to build your mileage slowly and recover from hard weeks, Brooks explains, because recovery is especially important as we get older.
Kristine Kearns, a writer and avid runner, joined Runner’s World and Bicycling in July 2024. She previously coached high school girls cross country and currently competes in seasonal races, with more than six years of distance training and an affinity for weightlifting. You can find her wearing purple, baking cupcakes, and visiting her local farmers market.